Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s Ascendance DLC Coming March 31

The next chapter in Exo Zombies, four new maps with Grappling Exo Ability, and a powerful new directed energy weapon.

by Scott Lowe on March 18, 2015

You’ve wreaked Havoc, now prepare for Ascendance. Today, I’m excited to share the news that Ascendance, the next DLC pack for Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, will launch on Xbox One and Xbox 360 on Tuesday, March 31. Ascendance’s got more of everything: four new multiplayer maps, a new directed energy weapon, and Infection, the next chapter in Exo Zombies.

For the competitive multiplayer crowd, Ascendance’s four new maps—Perplex, Site 244, Climate, and Chop Shop—will take the fight to new destinations, ranging from an alien crash site beneath Mt. Rushmore to the corridors of a black market exoskeleton complex. But there’s more to the maps than just new environments: Ascendance introduces a new Exo Grappling ability, which allows players to rapidly reach an elevated vantage point. Players will be able to sample the new mechanic in an Exo Grappling ability playlist exclusively for Ascendance maps.

Here’s a rundown of each map:

Perplex

Venture to the streets of Sydney and battle through a five-story modular apartment complex. With elevated vantages and tight corridors, Perplex is small-to-medium sized map that fits variety of play styles. Construction drones will shake things up, however, as they shift apartment modules and create new strategic pathways.

Site 244

An alien craft has crash-landed beneath Mt. Rushmore, USA, making for an awesome medium-to-large sized three-lane map littered with extraterrestrial debris. Gain a competitive edge by earning the map-based scorestreak to open an alien spore that enhances your perks and exo abilities.

Climate

Settle in to your dome away from home in Climate—a lush climate-controlled bio dome. With a circular layout with a central island structure for teams to fight for control of, Climate keeps the pace of the action high. The tides can turn, however, when the rivers begin to rage and become a treacherous obstacle.

Chop Shop

Discover the seedy underbelly of the unauthorized exoekeleton trade in Chop Shop, a medium-sized industrial complex with a devastating map-based scorestreak: the Advanced Repulsion Turret.

Ascendance also continues the Exo Zombies story with Infection, a brand new chapter wherein the four survivors find themselves on the outskirts of the mutant-ravaged Atlas Corporation facility and facing new, never-before-seen enemies. The returning celebrity cast of John Malkovich (In the Line of Fire, RED, Burn After Reading), Bill Paxton (Aliens, Titanic, Edge of Tomorrow), Rose McGowan (Planet Terror, Scream), and Jon Bernthal (Fury) fight tooth and nail through undead zombie hordes. To help them in their fight for survival, players will leverage an expanded arsenal of weapons and traps. And if you’re a longtime fan of the series, you might spot a familiar fast food chain in the zombie-filled ruins. That’s right, it’s time for another trip to Burgertown.

Lastly, Ascendance will add a new weapon to Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare multiplayer: the OHM directed energy hybrid weapon. Packing a powerful punch between its two switchable LMG and shotgun modes, the OHM is ideal for laying down suppressing fire and clearing out an objective. Can’t wait to try it out? The OHM and the OHM Werewolf variant are available now for early access for Xbox Season Pass holders.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s Ascendance DLC pack launches on Xbox One and Xbox 360 on Tuesday, March 31, but fans can catch the gameplay world premiere during the Call of Duty Championship, presented by Xbox broadcast on Sunday, March 29. For more information, check out CallofDuty.com.